At one point in the movie, Ted mentions 9/11. Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane both narrowly missed being on the planes that hit the World Trade Center. Wahlberg was booked on American Airlines Flight 11 but decided to drive up to New York and fly to California later. McFarlane was scheduled on the same flight but arrived to gate ten minutes late and was unable to board. He was sitting in the airport when he saw that his plane had hit the North Tower of the World trade center.

The man who charges the stage at the Norah Jones concert is in real life Shawn Thornton, a member of the Boston Bruins. Thornton is known for being the tough guy or Enforcer of the team and leads the Bruins in fighting major penalties.

The film was originally scheduled for release on July 13, 2012, but was moved up to June 29, the original intended release date of G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), which had been pushed back to March 29, 2013 for re-shoots.

Seth MacFarlane:
[Family Guy]
Several of the main voice cast of Family Guy (1999) had parts in this movie. Seth McFarlane who voiced Ted (and wrote and directed the film) voices Peter, Stewie, and Brian. Alex Borstein, who plays John's mom, provides the voice for Lois. Mila Kunis, who plays Lori, is the voice of Meg. The only main Griffin family member not to appear in the film is Seth Green who voices Chris. Other Family Guy regulars that appear in Ted (2012) include Patrick Warburton, Patrick Stewart, and Ralph Garman.

At the end of the movie the narrator states that Sam J. Jones moved in with Brandon Routh. Both actors starred in a movie as the title characters based on a comic book with Jones in Flash Gordon (1980) and Routh in Superman Returns (2006). There were plans for a follow up to both films, but they were scrapped when their studio was disappointed with their box office gross despite having a warm reception from fans and critics.